PassMarket beats Apple to the punch with iBeacon-based mobile payments

By leveraging Apple's iBeacon microlocation technology, iMobile3's new PassMarket Beacon Edition will allow customers at participating retailers to check out without swiping a credit card or handing over cash.

PassMarket, first launched in 2012, is a behind-the-scenes platform that allows businesses to interact with customers using passes stored in digital wallet applications like Apple's PassBook. Formerly focused on loyalty and rewards programs, the addition of "empty hand" payments was announced on Monday at the National Retail Federation's annual trade show in New York.

iMobile3 has designed the system to be as frictionless as possible for both consumers and retailers, iMobile3 CEO Bob Leonard told AppleInsider on Monday via phone from Manhattan's Javits Center.

From a consumer's perspective, the signup process is not unlike signing up for any other in-store loyalty program. PassMarket's system creates a profile for each customer, and that profile is used to feed information to a customized pass.

When the customer makes a purchase at that retailer with a credit card, the payment information can be stored in a secure vault at the payment processor and "tokenized" --?that is, assigned a unique but meaningless code --?and the tokens added to the user's pass profile. Subsequent charges by that user can be made by simply passing the tokens to the processor, rather than reacquiring the payment information with another swipe.

Apple recently rolled out iBeacon-based shopping assistance at all of its U.S. retail stores.

Using the precise location data provided by iBeacons, consumers' devices will know when they have entered a retailer for which they have stored payment information and the option to check out using the pass can be triggered by, for instance, walking up to a cash register.

One advantage of the PassMarket system for retailers --?and, Leonard believes, an advantage the company would maintain even if Apple were to enter the mobile payments fray --?is that it is designed to glue together many systems that retailers already use, rather than imposing new hardware or software requirements. iMobile3 has partnered with payment processors, acquirers, and even terminal makers like NCR and Ingenico to ensure that most retailers only need small tweaks to their POS system to add PassMarket payment capability.

Another benefit is security. According to Leonard, large-scale breaches like those at Target and Neiman Marcus, which were the result of retailers decrypting credit card data on their own systems, would be far more difficult since card data is stored in a single, secure vault at the payment processor.

Though the payment system is not yet live at any retailers, Leonard says many of PassMarket's existing customers have agreed to deploy the system. Burrito chain Moe's Southwest Grill is preparing to adopt the technology nationwide, as is Global Franchise Group, owners of ice cream franchise Marble Slab Creamery.

re: "will allow customers at participating retailers to check out without swiping a credit card or handing over cash."

What the FU*K is wrong with our society now?! Do people really think swiping a card or handing over cash is that difficult? I am beyond words.

Related: looks like the Target Breach has convinced some people of the benefits of using cash. Some customers turn to cash in wake of Target security breach (among many such stories). Not to mention the magnitude keeps rising; now it seems 70 million to 110 million suckers have had their info stolen and currently being sold on the black market. Of course we ALL are paying for this, because financial institutions and retailers just jack up their prices and fees to cover their losses.

There's another advantage those folks returning to cash will gain: when you pay cash you're not opting into the spy-on-my-every-purchase world. Can anyone imagine 25 years ago ANYONE being okay with every single one of their purchases being tracked, monitored and analyzed? And now? To each their own I guess, on that front.

What the FU*K is wrong with our society now?! Do people really think swiping a card or handing over cash is that difficult? I am beyond words.

What's the full cost of employee time? Say $15/hr. Add benefits, taxes, overhead. You're at around $20/hr. That's $0.33/minute. Say it takes 15 seconds more to fumble for cash and change or a card. Call that 9 cents per customer. Say you serve a customer every 3 minutes in an 8 hour day, or 160 customers. $14.40 per employee per shift. How many employees in a store? Say 5 * 2 shifts/day = 10 = $144 a day. Open 360 days per year? $51,800 per year.

Now say you have 1,000 stores. (McDonalds has about 14k in the US). That's $51 million per year you spend waiting for people to take out their card or cash.

re: "will allow customers at participating retailers to check out without swiping a credit card or handing over cash."

What the FU*K is wrong with our society now?! Do people really think swiping a card or handing over cash is that difficult? I am beyond words.

Related: looks like the Target Breach has convinced some people of the benefits of using cash. Some customers turn to cash in wake of Target security breach (among many such stories). Not to mention the magnitude keeps rising; now it seems 70 million to 110 million suckers have had their info stolen and currently being sold on the black market. Of course we ALL are paying for this, because financial institutions and retailers just jack up their prices and fees to cover their losses.

There's another advantage those folks returning to cash will gain: when you pay cash you're not opting into the spy-on-my-every-purchase world. Can anyone imagine 25 years ago ANYONE being okay with every single one of their purchases being tracked, monitored and analyzed? And now? To each their own I guess, on that front.

You apparently have zero clue what using non-cash forms does in terms of efficiency, both for customer and vendor. Yes, there are security risks and all, but if someone doesn't rob from you online, then someone could still mug you for your cash when you leave an establishment.

Those "suckers" as you call them are not as fault. It is the store and the POS supplier's fault for being shoddy with their systems. So your blanket statement that users are "suckers" just because they use a credit card for their purchase just reeks of ignorance. If I get mugged for my cash, I'm sh!t out of luck. But if there are erroneous charges on my credit card bill, hey guess what... I'm not responsible for them!

While I'm not a fan of online ads and tracking, get over it. Lots of things you take for granted online for free is paid for with ads. Don't like it? Then get off the Internet. I hear there is an old Kaczynski-style cabin up in the mountains that you can pick up cheap so you can wear your tinfoil hat with zero problem from "The Man".

What the FU*K is wrong with our society now?! Do people really think swiping a card or handing over cash is that difficult? I am beyond words.

I would tend to concur until you stop for a moment and imagine a world where all you need to bring anywhere you go, whatever you do, is your smart phone. Keys, i.d., drivers license, credit cards, store coupons, diary, opera tickets, medical records, passport, certificate of parole, all gone. That's what all this tech is driving towards. Now whether that's good or bad, save that discussion for another day.

I would tend to concur until you stop for a moment and imagine a world where all you need to bring anywhere you go, whatever you do, is your smart phone. Keys, i.d., drivers license, credit cards, store coupons, diary, opera tickets, medical records, passport, certificate of parole, all gone. That's what all this tech is driving towards. Now whether that's good or bad, save that discussion for another day.

Telephones were considered evil at one time and many people were hoping they were just a passing fad...

They would still have to wait in line for their merch to be bagged. As I don't believe people will just go in the store get their items and walk out, clearly this doesn't save as much time as they'd like it to and I believe this would open up a good opportunity for a thief to walk in a store and walk out with unpaid merchandise.so very flawed indeed.

I would tend to concur until you stop for a moment and imagine a world where all you need to bring anywhere you go, whatever you do, is your smart phone. Keys, i.d., drivers license, credit cards, store coupons, diary, opera tickets, medical records, passport, certificate of parole, all gone. That's what all this tech is driving towards. Now whether that's good or bad, save that discussion for another day.

For about a year, I've been able to walk into an Apple Store, scan an item with my phone, and walk out the door. No credit card swipe, no checkout, no line. It's called EasyPay.

Am I missing something here?

They will give you a bag if you want one, but it is not required. Seconds after the transaction, a receipt is delivered to your iPhone, which you can show on your way out the door if you are challenged (I never have been). Only problem I have encountered is Easy Pay can not handle any plastic store cards, iTunes cards or other discounts. But for quick pick items charged to your credit card, it works very well.

For about a year, I've been able to walk into an Apple Store, scan an item with my phone, and walk out the door. No credit card swipe, no checkout, no line. It's called EasyPay.

Am I missing something here?

EasyPay is rather fiddly. You have to unlock your phone, open up the app, connect to wifi, find the barcode, scan your thing, get your card out and enter your credit card security code. If there's no line at the register station, it's often easier to deal with it there, especially if you want a bag or printed receipt. If it was something more frequent like your morning coffee, it would be unacceptably slow.

I just pay cash. Everywhere. No waiting on verification, no PIN code, no nothing. Just count it. Easy.

Sorry, where do you get your cash from? I don't want to make a trip to the bank or ATM every time I want to buy something. And ATMs charge fees if you can't find one from your own bank. Not so easy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by konqerror

EasyPay is rather fiddly. You have to unlock your phone, open up the app, connect to wifi, find the barcode, scan your thing, get your card out and enter your credit card security code. If there's no line at the register station, it's often easier to deal with it there, especially if you want a bag or printed receipt. If it was something more frequent like your morning coffee, it would be unacceptably slow.

No, it really isn't fiddly. Unlocking your phone is trivial, you do it several times per day. And if you have a 5s with TouchID enabled, it's even easier. And connecting to WiFi is automatic after the first time. And you don't need to get your credit card out to enter your security code, because it's only three digits and you can remember it.

I can do all that before one person in line at a checkout gets their items.

Also, don't think there won't be a kind of authorization or user interaction with PassMarket. What happens if the customer directly beside you also has PassMarket - how does it know who is buying the item?

But all of this is moot point. The headline is "PassMarket beats Apple to the punch." No, they didn't. Apple had a mobile payment system that works well in place for a year. And they're not even trying to sell it to other stores, so PassMarket didn't beat them there either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatisgoingon

If you don't fill out the steps in the app exactly correct, you wind up getting arrest for shoplifting...

Seriously? It would occur to you to walk out of the store before scanning the item?